Railway signal and safety appliance.



PATENTED NOV. '19, 1907.

G. W. GERLAGH. RAILWAY SIGNAL AND SAFETY APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 871,166. I PAT'ENTED NOV. 19, 1907.

G. W. GERLAGH.

RAILWAY SIGNAL AND SAFETY APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 28, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

attorney:

No. 871,166. PATENTEDNOV. 19, 1907. G. W. GERLAGH. RAILWAY SIGNAL ANDSAFETY APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

26 27 I 6 7 r L9 A 2 3' 78 a 70 Z 2 a0 37 4 f lvitnmua indicatingsafety, the other danger.

is a view of the parts seen in To ollwhom it may concern:

and trip as t Fig. 5 1s a detail view of ances mounted upon thelocomotive.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. GERL'AOH, OF CUMBERLAND, IOWA.

RAILWAY SIGNAL AND SAFETY APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 19, 1907.

Application filed March 28'. 1907. Serial No. 364.990-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. GERLACH, a citizen of the United States,residing at (Jumberland, in the county of Cass and State of Iowa haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Signals andSafety Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for controlling railway trains and toprovide-for automatically shutting off motive power and setting thebrakes should the engineer or other operator of a train either fail toobserve the signal, or seeing the same, not heed the warning and attemptto run by a danger slgnal.

o em

the train to shut off the motive power and to bring the brakes intoplay.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and alsoto acquire a knowledge of the details of construction and the means foreffecting the result, reference is to be had to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings.

Whl e the invention may be adapted to different forms and conditions bychanges in the structure and minor details without departing from thespirit or essential features thereof, still the preferred embodiment isshown in the accompanying drawings, in'

which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a semaphore, signal an trip embodyingthe invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view s lowing the two ositions of thesemaphore and trip, tlie one i 3 Fig. 2 as t ey a pear looking from aoint at a right angle tl iereto. Fi' 4 is a view of the semaphore thesafety ap li- 6 is a view of'the parts shown in Fig; 5 when operatedtoclose the throttle andapply the s aft to the air valve.

brakes. Fig. '7 is a detail view of the spur ear" for transmittingmotion from the trip Fig." 8 is a detail view of .the trip mechanism foractuating the trip Shaft when the parts are arranged to hold a train,the full lines showing the trip levers projected, and the dotted linesindicating ey appear when set to danger.-

{ the position of the trip levers when drawn back out of the way andsecured so as not to be operated by the trip of the signal at thestation or other point to be safeguarded. Fig. 9 is a view ofcorresponding parts as shown in Fig. 8 illustrating a modi cation.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

A post 1, or other support, such as a tower is located at one side ofthe track at the selected point to give warning to an approaching trainof impending danger. A semaphore arm 2 is ivoted to the post or sup port1 and is ac apted to indicate safety or danger according to itsposition. The sema phore arm indicated is composed of companion memberstransversely spaced so as to receive between them a lantern 3 for use atnight. A quadrant is provided at one end of the semaphore arm and isprovided with a white lens 4 and a red lens 5, the latter indicatingdanger and the former safety, or a clear track. These lenses registerwith the lantern 3 according as the semaphore is lowered or raised.

The signal is adapted to be operated from a convenient point,connections being interposed from the operating lever to the semaphorearm for transmitting motion to the l atter. As shown a bell crank 6pivoted to the post or support 1, has one arm connected by rod 7 to thesema hore arm and its other arm connected by rod 8 to one end of a lever9 pivoted to a post 10, a rod 11 extending from the other end of thelever 9 to any convenient point. A trip 12 is pivoted between its endsto the post or support 1 and has a slot 13 at one end to receive a pinor fastening 14 by means of'which connection is had between the bar orrod'7 and the said trip, whereby the trip and semaphore arm aresimultaneously operated.

It is of advantage in assembling and constructin the parts to have themcounterbalance or as nearly so as practicable, whereby they are renderedmore responsive to the operating lever. The tri 12 and semaphore armmove together. n one position of the trip 12, it is adapted to set thesafetyappliances provided upon the locomotive or other art of the train,and in another position of the trip, it clears the projecting arm orpart of the safety appliances,

therebypermitting the train to pass by the vers being secured by cli s25.

valve 26 has connection wit the engineers' station without operating thesafety mechanism provided thereon. The operating brakes and these meansin a loci motive 0p-" erated by steam consist of. a throttle lever 15and an en ineers valve 16. A pipe 17 leads from t e engineers valve tothe brake mechanism to effect setting of the same in an emergency orwhen required. A- lever 18 enables the engineers valve to be in-.

stantly operated. A trip shaft 19'is mounted in axial alinement with theengineers valve and is provided with a fork 20 -to straddle the lever 18to operate the latter when the trip shaft 19 is actuated. Levers 21 and22 are mounted u on opposite sides of the locomotive and eac has an armconnected by means of a link 23 with a bell" crank 24 fast to thetripshaft 19. Under normal conditions, one arm of the levers 21 and 22projects beyond aside of the locomotive to be engaged by the trip 12when backing the tram. The levers 21 and 22 may be moved to bring theirprojecting arms within the sides of the locomotive as indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 8, silildlealr valve or the pipe leading therefromto the reservoir and its stem'is provided with a spur gear 27 adapted tomesh with a spur gear 28 mounted upon the trip shaft 19 so as to bemoved to throw the spur gears '27 and '28 into or out of gear. A springactuated catch 29 cooperates with the spur gear 28 and the trip shaft,19 to hold said spur ear in either of 1ts extreme ositions. A cy inder30 has connection wit the air valve 26 and is pro vided in a side withan opening 31.

piston 32 is arranged to operate inthe cylinder 30 and its stem 33 isconnected with the throttle lever 15. When the throttle lever occnlpiestheposition shown in Fig. 5, steam is a mitted to the engine foroperating the same and when the throttle lever occupies the positionshown in Fig. 6, the steam is cut off. The throttle lever may beoperated at any time, the opening 31 in the cylinder 3O admitting of thepiston 32 working freely.

In an emergency, when the trip shaft 19 is actuated by the trip '12coming in contact with one or the other .levers 21 or 22, the engineersvalve 161 is operated, thereby per-.

mitting the brakes tov be automatically apphed and .the valve 26 openedso that air may pass into the cylinder'30 in the rear of the. piston32and move the latterto operate the throttle lever 15 and shut oh thesteam.

The fork 20 admits of the engineers valve being operated at any time,and by throwing the spur gear 28 out of mesh with the spur gear 27, thethrottle and engineers valve may be independently operated and the 16?vers 21 and 22 may be moved so as not to 'come in'contactwith the trip12 upon backing a train and thereby cause disaster to the signal andsafety mechanisms. A spring34 returns the parts to normal position afterthe trip has cleared the lever 21 or 22 engaged thereby. a

In the -modification shown in Fig. 9 the bell crank 24 is placed bymeans of a straight lever 35 which is attached to the trip shaft 19 andthe levers 21 and 22 have a diiferentformation. The spring 34 forreturning the parts to normal position is differently positioned but'erforms the same oflice, viz: to returnthe evers 21 and 22 to normalposition and to close the air valve 26 thereby wasting throug i theopening 31.

is claime as new is:

1. In railway safety appliances, the combination of a valve controllingthe brakes, .a second valve controlling the throttle, connecting meansbetween the two valve stems, a trip shaft for operating one of thevalves, a lever having an operative connection with preventing airassing to the cylinder, 30 and Havin thus described the invention, whatthe trip shaft, and a trip for engaging the lever.

2. In railway safety appliances, the com-j bination of a valvecontrolling the brakes, a

second valve-controlling the throttle, gearing connecting the valvestems, a lever for operating the valvesi and a trip for engaging thelever.

3. In railway safety appliances, the combination of an. air valvecontrolling the brakes, a cylinder, a second valve controlling theadmission of air to th'e'cylinder, a piston mounted within the cylinder,a throttle lever controlled by the piston, gearing connecting the twovalves, a lever for opening the valves, and a trip for engaging thelever.

4. In railway safety appliances, the combination of a valve'controllinthe brakes, a second valve controlling the t irottle, means forsimultaneously operating the valves, a trip shaft for operating one ofthe'valves, a crank arm carried by the trip shaft, a trip lever havingan operative connection'with the crank arm, and a trip for actuating thetrip lever. I

5. In railway safety appliances, the com bination of a valve controllingthe brakes, a second valve controlling the throttle, g a,gear wheeladjustably mounted upon the stem of ed upon the stem of the secondvalve, the first mentioned gear wheel being designed to .be moved intoand out of engagementwith the 1 25 one of the valves, a second gearwheel mountmeehanisni for actuating the first mentioned valvea 6.lfnrailway safety appliances, the combination with the enginers valve'ofa-trip "shaft, a triplegl er for operating the trip shaft,- a forkattachec \to the trip shaft and adapted to couple the-same to, or admitof uncoup- 1 lin the trip shaft from the stem of the air va ve, acylinder having connection with the a r valve, connecting means betweenthe air valve and trip shaft, a piston arranged to operate in thecylinder and connecting means between said piston and the lever forcutting 'off power,

-7. In railway safety appliances, the coml I I l l 1 i I bination of avalvecontrolling the brakes, a

= connecting the valves for simultaneous oper-.

second valve controlling the throttle, gearing ation, a trip shaft foroperating one of the valves, a crank arm carried by the trip shaft;

a trip lever having an operative connection with the crank arm, asemaphore signal, and

a trip actuated by the semaphore signal for engagement with the beforementioned trip lever.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. GERLACH. [L. s.] Vit-nesses.

JOHN SMITH,

T. PETTINGER.. I

